Independent participatory media for Iran

Iranian opposition leader MirHosein Mousavi has told his children in a telephone conversation that he still stands by his former political stance and has in no way retreated from his criticism of the government.

The Kaleme opposition website reports that MirHosein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest by the Islamic Republic along with his wife Zahra Rahnavard since last February, was finally allowed a phone call to his daughters for the first time in recent months.

Mousavi’s daughter reports that her father told him: “Nothing has changed …dear children; I want you to know that I still firmly stand by my former political stance.”

The Mousavis report similar statements of defiance from their mother Zahra Rahnavard.

MirHosein Mousavi also reportedly told his children that they may be denied even the short phone calls that they are sometimes allowed.

Reports indicate that following the telephone conversation, Mousavi’s children began to be subjected to further persecution and were even threatened with arrest.

In addition, Mousavi and Rahnavard’s daughter has been dismissed from her teaching position at Al-Zahra University.

The Iranian opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard as well as Mehdi Karroubi, who is being held in a different location, have been under house arrest since last February after their rally call triggered a large demonstration in solidarity with the Arab uprisings in the region.

Marking one year into the house arrest of their parents, the Mousavi and Karroubi children published a joint letter calling on their compatriots and all “freedom-lovers of the world” to protest against the illegal arrest of their parents and of all political prisoners in Iran.

The letter also expressed grave concern regarding the well-being of their parents, who are denied visits from their own family doctors. The opposition leaders have been cut off from the outside world and are occasionally allowed to make short phone calls to their children.

The house arrest of the opposition leaders in Iran has been challenged by numerous domestic and international human rights groups, as well as political figures who state that putting individuals under house arrest without filing any official charges against them is illegal according to both Islamic Republic and international laws.